


Finally Home

by SummerRaine14



Series: Bughead Tattoos [4]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Light Angst, Mentioned Archie Andrews, Mentioned Veronica Lodge, No Smut, Reunion Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 01:07:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29360010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerRaine14/pseuds/SummerRaine14
Summary: Six years ago, Jughead came home to Riverdale and his friends didn't. So, he got a tattoo.Today, Betty is seeing that tattoo for the first time.
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Series: Bughead Tattoos [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1007241
Comments: 8
Kudos: 53





	Finally Home

**Author's Note:**

> Hi friends! 
> 
> I'm Summer and once in a while, I remember how much I love Bughead and writing for them. So then I try to do fix it fics because canon makes me sad. This isn't so much a fix it one shot as it is a reunion. I don't like Bughead apart, so it's pretty straight forward with minimal mentions of their years apart and some Jughead angst.
> 
> (I apologize for any grammatical errors)
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

When he made the trip home to Riverdale a year following high school graduation, Jughead hadn't known what to expect. 

Awkwardness, underlying anger, maybe some passive aggressive comments from his and Veronica's parts. Hell, he even half expected no one would show, which is exactly what happened. 

But of all the scenarios running wild in his head, walking into a tattoo parlor at eight pm on a Friday was not one of them. 

Eclipse Ink had been a new addition to the small town, and it was slowly growing a following in the Southside of Riverdale. Most customers coming from the Serpents, or those alike, their prices were cheap for the quality that had been one hundred times better than the machines Toni used back in his Serpent days. 

Sure, as a struggling writer in college who had just spent most of his savings on a trip out here, he didn't exactly have the money to spend on a tattoo he'd probably come to regret. But tonight wasn't about making smart, clear-headed decisions. 

Tonight was about dealing with the fact that he'd once again misplaced his hope and heart in the hands of people who never really cared. 

Getting a tattoo seemed like the best way to deal with that. 

Unfamiliar faces filled his view as he walked in past a teen couple sitting in black leather chairs. He quietly scoffed to himself, seeing so much of himself and Betty in their young love, but he knew that ultimately, the two naive teenagers would end up just like they did. Broken, and alone. 

Well, Jughead was alone. But he wasn't sure if Betty was. Maybe she was with someone from school, maybe she was with Archie. Whatever she was doing, he was mad, resentful to her for betraying him _again_ , but he was also in pain. 

Jughead shook those thoughts and memories of Betty out of his head and took one final look at his phone to see if any of them had even bothered to call, _nothing_.

He was handed a binder of designs from the artist who stepped aside and began sanitizing the station. Truthfully, Jughead wasn't sure what kind of tattoo he wanted. Twenty-four hours ago, he didn't even want a tattoo. 

He laid back in the chair and removed his shirt, he clenched his fists and moved past the slight sting of the needle as it ran across his chest. He got lost in a trail of thoughts about how it would turn out, and if it was a mistake, but ultimately, he decided this would be what it is. 

Jughead stood an hour and a half later, a body mirror in front of him and his eyes couldn’t stay off the grey and navy blue ink on his chest. It captured everything in his mind, everything he’d thought of himself since high school. Everything he was confirmed to be as his closest friends had broken their pact and left him alone in _their_ booth at Pop's. 

\--

_Six Years Later_

Leading up to this moment had been years in the waiting. Fighting, screaming, countless tears, and resentment that spanned new and old relationships. Jughead had sworn to himself that it didn’t matter what she did, he would never fall back in love with Betty Cooper. 

But it was through those fights, the longing looks, and the venom filled words that he accepted the one truth he'd been denying: he never fell _out_ of love with her. 

What they'd done in the last seven years were behind them. Who they'd been, and even who they'd been with. He didn't care, and neither did she. 

All that mattered was what was between them, and that was each other. 

Another fight about the past, Betty begging Jughead to listen to her, so he did. He pulled her close, his heart that had been shielded for so many years finally accepting some light. His _love_ for Betty was more clear than ever. The tension between them was undeniable, and the time for pretending they weren't still in love with each other were over. 

They laid face to face in Jughead's hotel bed. He gently pushed her long hair out of her face and felt his heart light up as she smiled at him. Betty's eyes were as green as ever, and he found himself getting lost in them like he had so many times before. 

Jughead wrapped his arm around her, a sheet barely covering them and Betty began to run her fingers over the large ink on his chest. He hissed at first, before settling under the comfort of her soft touch. 

"A...wolf. What does it mean?" 

Jughead turned away from her, looking to his phone on the bedside table and remembering the ache he felt when no one's names appeared on it that night after Pop's. He remembered feeling so alone, how alone he actually was. 

But it was Betty's gentle hand, turning his face back to her, the love in her eyes that reminded him he wasn't alone now. 

"A lone wolf." He took a deep breath and ran his fingers feather light over her back, "I was...angry, when none of you showed up to Pop's. Angry, resentful, and alone. You all broke our pact, doing your thing somewhere else and I was there. Hidden, separated from a group, and excluded with nowhere and no one to call home."

Tears filled Betty's eyes and Jughead tried to wipe them away, but it was no use. 

"Oh, Jug… I'm so sorry." 

"You don't need to be sorry anymore, Betts. I've been so angry for a long time, and I wanted to hold my ground with you. But...all of that anger is exhausting." 

Betty crawled onto Jughead's lap and rested her hands on his chest. He felt her eyes trailing his body and silently wondered if she was comparing him to anyone else, if he was still enough for her. But then she said those words he'd been waiting for, and all of that doubt left his mind.

"Jughead Jones, I love you. I wish it hadn't taken me so long to accept that it's always been you."

"I love you, Betty Cooper." 

She leaned down and their lips connected as they were filled with that familiar feeling of safety, love, passion, and _home_. 

After years apart, it was in each other's arms that they were finally home. 

**Author's Note:**

> Come find me over on Tumblr @srainebuggie where I found some of the inspo for this through all us Buggies imagining our favs when they finally reconnect! 
> 
> Let me know your thoughs!


End file.
